6.
We were too far from a pub to sample
a beer which is made from barley, but we
did examine two wild species of this
grass. They both have long awns but the
more robust spike is the wall barley,
Hordeum murinum, which is quite easily
distinguished from the slimmer spike of
the meadow barley, Hordeum secalinum.
Just to check you should look at the
small scale leaves called glumes at the
base of a spikelet which, in the wall
barley, are fringed with hairs.
Alongside tracks and lanes you are
certain to find the false oat grass,
Arrenatherum elatius, which has a rather
straggly appearance. Each spikelet has
a single awn, unlike the two or three
awns found on the drooping spikelets of
the wild oat. You can distinguish this
from the cultivated variety by removing
the glumes and looking at the scale
leaves which you uncover. If they are
hairy you have one of the two species of
wild oats, Avena sp., which are? Well, if
you have read this far, and want to know,
then it is time for you to find out for
yourself, with the help of Hubbard's book
on grasses published by Pelican books.
Good hunting!
Tony Boniface
---oOo---
Ken Adams, our Higher Plant Recorder,
would like to purchase a complete, or
near complete, bound set of Essex Natura-
lists. If anyone has a set of which they
are thinking of disposing, please ring him
on 01-508-7863. He is also anxious to
obtain a copy of Gibson's Flora of Essex
(any condition).